President Trump's first year in office, and Missouri's role

Political analysts might spend the next century assessing the impact of this president's first twelve months. (WJLA )

NEW BLOOMFIELD —

It's been just over a year since President Donald Trump took office.

Political analysts might spend the next century assessing the impact of this president's first twelve months.

People will argue over what constitutes a Trump success and a Trump failure.

But in Missouri, the Trump spotlight shined brightly.

Making two trips to the Show-Me State, the Trump White House revealed its concern for the importance of Missouri to the balance of power in Washington.

The tax reform effort brought the president to Springfield in August and to St. Charles in November.

On both occasions, he targeted Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill calling Josh Hawley the next senator and prompting her constituents to vote her out of office.

If his visits to Missouri changed minds is a question for a political scientist.

The tax reform bill passed either way and was probably the biggest achievement for the Trump White House. Its success perhaps numbed the failure to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Both were overshadowed by the White House sparring with the news media.

“It seems like you’re hellbent on trying to make sure that whatever image you want to tell about this White House stays,” former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told media.

One of many statements alluding to “fake news.”

The Mueller investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election is another battle for the White House and possible collusion between Moscow and Trump associates.

“They have a phony witch hunt going against me,” President Trump said.

The instability within the White House and the President's unprecedented reliance on social media has defined his first year in office.

Mr. Trump has also painted targets on many, from North Korea to the NFL.

And he has made good on campaign promises, putting conservative judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, enacting a travel ban for residents of six mostly Muslim countries, and declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

And while Obamacare is still with us, the Trump White House has undone a lot of what his predecessor had put in place, from the Cuba deal to DACA, to the Paris climate agreement.

Historians also might have something to say about the parallels between the Trump Administration in Washington and the Eric Greitens administration in Missouri.

As outsiders, both men rode a populist wave into office, promising to break the grip of business, as usual, claiming there was an agenda by the news media to hurt them with "fake news" reports, and coming face-to-face with scandal.

President Trump is scheduled to deliver his state-of-the-union address Tuesday evening.